Greetings IFMA Family,

Summer is upon us and these are the months filled with vacations, family trips and time off from work and…

This is also the time when the temperatures rise to sometimes absurd heights and our HVAC systems are tested.  We think of ways to cool the roofs of our buildings (white roofs or green roofs?), harvest solar energy (panels on rooftops or in open fields?), put UV film on the windows, close blinds, create a passive solar plans and more.  These are the things we think of and do every day as we as the subject matter experts, look at ways to optimize the efficiency of how our buildings operate and run.

Don’t just think of how to keep the facilities up and running-think about how we can improve how they work, build in redundancy, energy efficiency, add value above and beyond and more.

If you are looking for any services associated with your buildings/facilities, don’t forget to look through the chapters resource list of our chapter sponsors and members online.  This is a great resource and benefit of being a chapter member and sponsor.

Sponsorship Drive

We had a phenomenal sponsorship year again this year, beating last year’s drive by 15% with additional sponsors still trickling in.  A big thank you to the board, committee chairs and co-chairs who drove this effort.  Congratulations on setting a new record.

And a very special thank you to our new sponsors!  Thank you for supporting the chapter.  Your financial support goes a long way to improving the value we bring to the membership and the Facilities Management Profession.

We have ambitious plans for this year and you will begin to see those being implemented shortly.

Chapter Recertification, Balanced Score Cards and Budgets

We have begun the chapter recertification process which includes the finalization of the chapters balanced score card (BSC) and annual operating budget.  The committees have provided their updates and this week I will be reviewing and finalizing this with the board, chairs and co-chairs.  Once this is in place, we as a chapter have our roadmap defined and have focus and measurements in place that we can implement against.

Events!

World Workplace is around the corner (in Philadelphia October 2-4)!  We have a large contingent going this year from the chapter.  We hope to see you there!  Unable to get funding for this conference?  The chapter offers scholarship.  Apply here at the earliest and you could be selected for a full or partial scholarship!  This year we are increasing the number of World Workplace scholarships from 2 to 4 full and introducing 2 partial scholarships so please apply!

Red Hat Tower tour: You don’t want to miss the upcoming Red Hat Tower tour and subsequent afterhours on August 14th followed by an afterhours social at Zinda in downtown Raleigh.  Slots are filling up quick so RSVP to reserve your seat!

As always, get involved, attend the meetings, join a committee, engage and you will get more for your membership.

Thank you for your support and participations and thanks for being part of the IFMA family.

This is going to be a great year!

Neville M. Devlaliwalla

President 2013-2014

Better, Faster, Stronger